EAST LANSING, Mich. – On a rain-soaked opening day of the Mary Fossum Invitational, the Illinois State women's golf team made a late-round push to climb into eighth place in the rain-shortened first round at the event.
The round was halted just past the halfway point due to extreme weather, and after a delay, the tournament which was originally scheduled for 54 holes – 36 holes on Sunday and 18 holes on Monday – the tournament has been weather-adjusted to a 36-hole tournament with 18 holes played on Sunday, and 18 more on Monday.
Behind a 10-over par 298, Delaware leads the field through the first 18 holes, with Michigan State (301), Central Michigan (302), Rutgers (305), and Youngstown State (306) rounding out the top five. Bowling Green (310), and Findlay (313) are just ahead of the Redbirds, while Florida International (316), Kennesaw State (317), Ohio (319), Western Michigan (324), Grand Valley State (325), Northern Illinois (325), and Oakland (329) round out the 15 schools in attendance at the event.
At the weather delay, the Redbirds were sitting in a tie for 15th place; however, rebounded strongly after the stoppage, climbing seven spots to their eighth place standing after the first round.
Leading the way for the Redbirds in the opening round was senior Reagan Kennedy, who finished with a four-over 76, as she had two birdies and 11 pars on her round, and is tied for 13th with 18 holes to play in the tournament. She has a 3.00 scoring average on par-three holes in the tournament, which is tied for the second-best par three scoring average in the tournament.
Freshman Xuan (Hazel) Gao finished with a six-over 78 on the day, as she had a dozen pars on her way to tying for 27th place. Classmate Cora Hirz is tied for 42nd after the opening day with an eight-over 80, as she had four birdies and six pars on her round. Her four birdies are tied for the most in the opening round.
Alex Sparrow finished with three birdies and six pars over the opening 18 holes, finishing with an 81, tied for 50th, and is tied for the seventh-most birdies in the field through 18 holes. Cynthia Lang had six pars for ISU, finishing with an 86 and is tied for 78th heading into the final round tomorrow morning.
